Various U.S. Patents have disclosed exterior vehicle mirror assemblies which incorporate a downwardly facing security light for providing a lighted area adjacent to the vehicle. The light is actuated by a remote transmitter that typically carried by the vehicle driver to remotely lock and unlock the doors and/or remotely start the engine. These lights are commonly called "puddle lamps" because light on the ground has the appearance of a puddle. Examples of such assemblies are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,823,654, 5,699,704, 5,669,699, 5,497,306, 5,497,305 and 5,371,659 and German Patent Appln. No. 3635471.
The problem with these known mirror assemblies and is that the light emitting components thereof are not readily adaptable for use in existing mirror assemblies. Specifically, the housing mirror assemblies disclosed in these patents are specially formed to accommodate the mounting of a light emitting component and have a larger forwardly facing profile than they would without the light emitting components. The larger profile results in increased wind resistance and require new toolings to form the housing because the light emitting components are not readily adaptable for existing mirror housings.